• Registered: 2011-06-11
  • Posts: 110

Topic: Range 3 Weapons

So I'm moving on to converting ships other than Earth and Minbari now and I'm doing Centauri, they have some really short weapons which mean they become range 3 in my version.

Has anyone played with many range 3 weapons?  In the tests we've done so far, the ships rarely get this close, but obviously they have had longer range. 

I'm concerned that range 3 won't have much of an effect and may result in the Centauri being out matched in most games.

Any advice/experience with this?

  • From: Denver, CO
  • Registered: 2005-03-27
  • Posts: 3,578

Re: Range 3 Weapons

My experience (and, I suspect, that of a lot of players) has been that range-3 weapons are most useful against fighters, which have to close to point-blank range to attack. In a simultaneous move system like Starmada, it's difficult to predict the enemy's movement with enough certainty to reliably get within a couple hexes.

On the other hand, towards the end of a battle, when the opponent's thrust ratings have been suitably reduced, range-3 weapons might be effective in a "mop up" role.

But you're probably right: a fleet that relies on range-3 weapons to deliver its main offensive punch is going to struggle.

Daniel Kast
Majestic Twelve Games
cricket@mj12games.com

mj12games's Website

  • Registered: 2008-12-22
  • Posts: 654

Re: Range 3 Weapons

diddimus wrote:

So I'm moving on to converting ships other than Earth and Minbari now and I'm doing Centauri, they have some really short weapons which mean they become range 3 in my version.

Has anyone played with many range 3 weapons?  In the tests we've done so far, the ships rarely get this close, but obviously they have had longer range. 

I'm concerned that range 3 won't have much of an effect and may result in the Centauri being out matched in most games.

Any advice/experience with this?

Talking about twin arrays in particular? With the Centauri most designs feature some long range firepower so that you aren't just getting pummeled trying to get the TAs in range. Once you do however, they have lots of them covering a lot of arcs, and like Cricket said, they should be excellent against fighters.  In general terms I think that range 3 weapons are ok if you aren't relying on them to be your ship killers. But then again, I prefer shorter weapon ranges across the board as I have found that it promotes more tactics. What kind of ranges are you looking at on the Centauri heavy weapons?
Erik

  • Registered: 2005-11-02
  • Posts: 130

Re: Range 3 Weapons

Not to take anyting away from what  cricket said, you also have to take into account what the opposing ranges are. If the enemy has a range 30 weapon then the chances of getting within 3 are slim to none. If the opposing fleets weapons have a range of six then your chances are better. Its all a matter of proportion.

  • Registered: 2011-06-11
  • Posts: 110

Re: Range 3 Weapons

Blacklancer99 wrote:

Talking about twin arrays in particular? ....... What kind of ranges are you looking at on the Centauri heavy weapons?
Erik

Yep smile

The ranges for their lasers come out as the same as Minbari at 15 so yeah they are great.  The matter cannons come out at 9, so not too bad. 

However, looking through some of the B5 wars ships I saw some with a pretty small selection of main weapons, or even 1 I remember (an assault ship) had nothing but Twin Arrays. 

We'll see how it goes, and I'd love to keep the ranges as they are as for everything else they seem right.

  • Registered: 2008-12-22
  • Posts: 654

Re: Range 3 Weapons

diddimus wrote:

looking through some of the B5 wars ships I saw some with a pretty small selection of main weapons, or even 1 I remember (an assault ship) had nothing but Twin Arrays.

Is that the Primus variant assault ship? If it is I remember that having 4 Heavy Arrays up front. Either way with an assault ship the guns should be secondary to the troops. The original B5wars TAs were longer ranged (on par with other light guns like the Standard Particle Beam) but AoG shortened them up because they made the Centauri ships buzz saws because of the high ROF and FC. Ideally TAs should give the ships better defenses because of their excellent qualities as an interceptor and should chop up fighters. If ships get close they still have those buzz saw qualities, they just can't reach out and touch you anymore  smile  The Centauri 3 primary weapons are the Battle Laser, Matter Cannon, and Twin Array, but there are so many light ships and variants that mount things like plasma accelerators, heavy arrays, torpedo launchers, plasma streams, etc, that the fleet as a whole has a lot of weapon options, they just don't put them all on one ship at a time...that is for the EA and Narn to do!
Cheers,
Erik